Testing at Buttonwillow showed the fuel starvation issue has been sorted with the new fuel surge tank and external pump.
With that out of the way, I’m able to peel back a layer and find the next issue that was buried a bit deeper. It seems I have a communication issue between the ECU and throttle body, which ALSO sends the ECU into limp mode, just like the fuel starvation. This helps everything make a lot more sense because at GTA Finals we were scratching our heads because sometimes it would go into limp mode under one set of circumstances that we were sure was fuel level related, and then other times it would go into limp mode under circumstances that couldn’t possibly be fuel level related. With one out of the way, it was a lot easier to find the second. In the morning it would go straight into limp mode upon startup or after a short bit of driving, then after a good ol’ code clear and tug on connectors and wires by hand, it started working. Ryan Helmuth, another LFX Miata head, was at the track the same day and when I had the issue narrowed down to ECU, TB, or wiring, he very awesomely offered to loan me his throttle body for a session to see if that made a difference. I ran a session with his TB, then a session with mine, both successfully, so I feel we’ve crossed that off the list and I think it’s down to the wiring and factory connector. I need to try to find that factory connector in fresh form so I can run new wires from the ECU with proper strain relief, heat protection, etc. and pin a fresh connector at the TB, then go test again.
